'There are young fellas now walking the streets with hurleys' - Newcastle West point way for west Limerick

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Newcastle West are back at Limerick hurling's top table. An exclusive dozen in the Treaty County now has a second representative from the West, and they bridge a 35-year gap this Friday evening.
Premier Intermediate kings last winter, there was also Championship wins for Croagh Kilfinny (Intermediate) and Feenagh Kilmeedy (Premier Junior) last season.
Add in an All-Ireland Colleges 'C' title for Scoil Mhuire agus Íde earlier this year, and it is clear the game is now in a healthy place. In a football dominated area, it is clear that hurling firmly has its place.
Declan Hannon (Adare), Seamus Flanagan (Feohanagh Castlemahon) and Tom Condon (Knockaderry) are among just a handful of prominent recent All-Ireland winners from the west division. Representation often dwarfed by the other three divisions.
It seems the success of the Limerick hurlers since 2018 has captured the imagination and some are predicting the unlocking of a potential gold mine, particularly in the county town of Newcastle West.
A loss to nearby Killeedy in 1990 condemned them to the hurling wilderness and even in the various championship restructures since then, the Magpies have continued operated off-Broadway.
However, there was previous sparks of hurling in the town. Senior champions in 1917 and 1925, the club has contested seven finals, albeit their most recent time at the dance was 1931. It would have been known as a hurling town.
Previously home to a League of Ireland club, the town now boasts a NCW Town, Newcastle West RFC, and West Limerick A.C. It is home a plethora of sporting options including an international standard Athletics Hub – opened in 2023.
The local camogie outfit have been Queens on Shannonside four times since 2019 – and chase a treble this Autumn. The footballers, while dethroned last season, won an-historic three-in-a-row in 2023. Six of their seven senior titles have come since they were relegated from the top table in hurling.
There is no shortage of options but stalwart with the club, and dual player, Mike McMahon claims hurling has gripped the area.
'There are young fellas now walking the streets with hurleys. They are up at the field pucking around, I don't see them without a hurley and ball – they are tapping it off a wall, going along on the road'.
Last winter, a tense final triumph over Garryspillane saw them crowned Premier Intermediate Hurling champions and with it, became a dual senior club. They'd knocked on the door since winning the Intermediate grade in 2020.
They are one of five clubs to boast dual citizenship at senior. The Magpies will be acutely aware that he has possibly a heavier crossover than most, with co-operation needed with his football peer Liam Weir. They now gallop into eleven games in as many weeks.
Mungret St. Paul's are the first hurdle when they meet in Rathkeale.
'We are looking in that they work together. We train together; we have the same S&C and Physio (for both codes). You are talking 10 or 11 players that could put their hand up to start for the senior hurling or football', explains the towering forward.
Now hurling at adult level as long as some of his teammates are alive, McMahon admits he thought Senior hurling could have come sooner. 'Back in 2003 when I was first on the Intermediate panel, or even into 2004, I thought we could go Senior. We had a good junior team in the 1990s and won the Junior in 2001 – and we got to a couple of Intermediate quarter finals in 02 and 03. I was new onto the panel (2003) and it was constant knockout games for a few years, I thought we could go senior.
'But it went south very quick. We stopped getting out of the group, the recission hit and fellas went to Australia. The likes of Alan O'Connor, Barry Holland, Brian Quirke (were gone) and older lads retired. We had no mid to late 20's players.'
Following time and effort into their underage sides, where they rubbed shoulders with senior outfits such as Na Piarsaigh, Patrickswell and Kilmallock, a new cohort infused the side.
'In 2019, we got a new bunch of players. A few of the Hurley's came of age, we lost the Intermediate 2019 before winning in 2020. We were competitive in Premier Intermediate but I was worried that if we went senior straightaway, we wouldn't be ready for it. You need to be winning the Championship comprehensively enough to be going up.'
2024 saw them win six of their first seven group games, before dispatching of Effin and Garryspillane semi-final and final.
McMahon who works with the Gardaí in Limerick City, will line out on a team managed by his uncle Derry McMahon, and one that features Limerick panellist Ethan Hurley. Other talents included Cathal and Con Hayes, Diarmuid Lyons and Eoin Hurley.
Colm Foley and Diarmuid Kelly, key to their rise to date, have since departed to Australia.
An intriguing clash with city outfit Mungret will be a repeat of the SFC opener, which Newcastle West shaded, thanks to Aaron Neville's late winning point. This game is being streamed by Limerick GAA TV. Meanwhile on Saturday evening, Na Piarsaigh clash with Doon, in a repeat of the 2024 final, where Doon claimed a first title by just a point.